Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Author Spotlight: Renters Win, Home Owners Lose by Tom Graneau

Tom Graneau, a financial management coach, pinpoints owning a home as the black hole for the American dollar. This timely masterpiece exposes the biggest shakedown in consumer spending—home ownership.

Driven by the American dream of grandeur and prosperity, buyers purchase their homes as “smart investments” when in actuality, the best they can hope to get is zero percent return. More commonly, owners lose an enormous amount of money on the deal, driving themselves even deeper into debt as they pour their hard-earned income in mortgage payments and maintenance costs.

In Renters Win, Home Owners Lose: Revealing the Biggest Scam in America, author Tom Graneau prudently shows readers how to avoid getting trapped in the biggest scam in the country, endorsed by national and local governments and the housing and mortgage industries. Tables, graphs, and various statistics are prominently laced throughout the book to expound the obvious, tangible advantages that renters have over anyone preparing to buy a home.

For those already owning a home—fear not. Graneau concludes by outlining winning strategies and solutions to make their experience a little more agreeable.

Renters Win, Home Owners Lose is a perfect eye-opener for renters, first-time home buyers, and those who plan to upgrade to a second or third home!

Read the Reviews!

“A real game changer, eye-opener, and timely. MUST read before buying!

This book may upset your way of thinking, but that’s often a good thing.

We always felt that home ownership was good for us over the years; I’m pretty sure it generally was good at the time, but not so good as we thought. Glad I got out when I did (now a happy renter). The equity we build up is fragile (now very obvious). The tax deductions are not as beneficial/large as we like to think. The extra costs of owning can be really large. And anytime you re-finance to take out equity, your new lender is doing very well on the deal.

We were all propagandized by the government, the lenders, the realtors, etc. This book will help you to take a fresh look at the process. You cannot afford to overlook this book before buying, not any more. And it is very clear and well-written.

If you are presently underwater or upside-down in a mortgage, I am sincerely sorry. You may stay underwater for a very long time. Talk to your lawyer (first!) about the possibility of walking; stop paying right now, save money, live for free, pay off the credit cards instead. It will be (probably) many months before your lender takes any action at all. The book does NOT discuss this for you, and so perhaps I should not either. But the book will help open up your thinking.”

--T. Erwin

Tom Graneau was born in Dominica, a small island in the Caribbean with a population of roughly 70,000 people. When Tom was seventeen years old, he and his mother immigrated to the United States. After two years in the U.S., he became acutely aware of his need for an education and aggressively began finding a way to be in school.

During his fourteen years of service in the Navy, he became increasingly concerned about his financial situation. Things became worse when he left the service. His house went into foreclosure. With added pressure from credit card companies, he ultimately filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy.

Eventually, he found work as a Financial Management Consultant. In his last employment, Tom spent roughly ten years working as a financial management coach and educator. During that time, he conducted numerous workshops, presentations, and private consultation with members of the military, government employees, and others in the community.

Tom enjoyed working with his clients, but they caused him to wonder about the financial condition of Americans, as a whole. His research proved that money problems extend well beyond what most people are willing to admit or see.

In short, most Americans are broke. Various surveys have shown that roughly 90 percent of working Americans live from paycheck to paycheck, no matter how much money they make. In most cases, the problem is directly related to financial misconceptions, poor training, and lack of knowledge. Home ownership is one of the biggest financial misconceptions in personal finance. Hence the book, Renters Win, Home Owners Lose: Revealing the Biggest Scam in America.